some differences of note that i have noticed:
1. it's as laid back as people said it is--people walking around with no shoes on, at work and in the street.
2. people don't care about crossing the street safety. you just walk across the street, real casual, even if a car is coming at you--no, especially if a car is coming at you, just keep walking, maybe slow it down.
3. cars don't care about pedestrians, they don't show signs of slowing down--once you believe this firmly, cars will stop and let you cross.
4. bus drivers are crazy. as soon as you get in the bus, run to your seat and hold on. the driver breaks hard, goes fast on turns, etc. but if a little kid should stand up on their seat, they'll stop the bus until the kid sits down. (hey, this happened once, much to my surprise.)
5. women and children first? not in new zealand! adults have the right to sit over children on buses. that's right, on the bus the sign says that children have to give up their seat to a standing adult.
6. "health store" is just a vitamin store.
7. no one sells soy cheese. i've found some damn good soy-based ice cream, but no fucking soy cheese! (not a cultural thing but hey, i just wanted to point this one out. i can't believe i can't find soy cheese anywhere. i don't usually buy it, but i hate not having the option.)
8. at restaurants, they don't bring you the check/bill. you just go up to the register when you're done. the good thing though is there is no tipping in this country. except maybe a little for the cab driver.
9. at fast food type of places or in mall food courts, you don't have to clean up after yourself. someone comes around collecting the rubbish.
10. people don't really say "god bless you" after you sneeze. what a relief! i hate fucking 'god bless you' crap so much. it's so very refreshing. i might start snorting pepper around town just not to hear that dreaded phrase.
11. the standard lunch break is 30 minutes, not 1 hour, which is a really quite tough thing to manage! it makes it practically impossible to leave the office, find a vegan/vegetarian meal, eat, and make it back to the office in time. unless of course you're having falafels. just find the shop with the shortest queue. (i'm mighty tired of falafels.)
12. they don't know how to number the buildings on streets. as in america, even numbers are on one side of the street and odd numbers are on the other side. that helps a lot when looking for an address. however the fucked up part is that the numbers really don't correspond with your neighbor across the street. for example, in america a street might have building 200, 202, 204, 208, 210 on one side, and 201, 203, 205, 209, 211 on the other side. every number is not represented, but usually most are. you can tell how far away the place you are trying to reach is by looking at EITHER SIDE of the street. in new zealand, they don't care what is happening on the other side of the street. for example, on one side you might have 200, 202, 208, 214, 218, 222 and on the other side you have 355, 359, 363, 365, etc. because the other side has more buildings so the numbers advance much more quickly. let me tell you, it really fucking throws you off when you are trying to find an address. especially if you are on a bus and you can only see one side of the street. not to mention that there are very few street signs that tell you the name of the street and not too many building numbers are visible either!

the electrical outlets are funny too, you can turn them off